


Murder They Wrote

by LadyGinoza



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 09:31:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4559502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyGinoza/pseuds/LadyGinoza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of death in the city raises suspicion. Deaths that seem natural at first glance or is there something more to them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1 **

**Ginoza**

The job of an inspector is not only to observe the work of the enforcers when a stress level suddenly rises in an area of the city during a case, it’s also our job to observe and investigate when something doesn’t seem right. As division one’s lead inspector it’s my job to find anything that seems out of the ordinary that may be going on in the city that the Sibyl system can’t detect due to certain factors just like what happened in the drone factory about a month ago. Chances are if I had never looked into those so called accidental deaths, Yuji Kanehara would probably still be committing murders by passing them as an accidental death.  

Thanks to Kougami’s wild tactics we were able to prove that the dismemberings were no accidents and the plant manager Kuraudo Goda had some serious explaining to do as to why he allowed his workers to physically torment a colleague in the first place knowing full well that such treatments would cloud someone’s hue and in result caused the man to commit murder. Needless to say, future changes are expected to be made to ensure the mental health of the workers in the factory remain healthy by changing the way they treat the work personnel and make it against company policy to have any of their worker’s hues be out into the open for everyone to see, that is just unacceptable.

When you stop to think about the amount of crimes that still happens on almost a daily basis, it’s almost unbelievable. With the Sibyl system, people are now experiencing more enjoyable lives than ever before along with the technology that we now have, we actually live in great comfort even if you just happen to make average income and yet the crime rates have never really gotten down, you learn that quick enough when you become an inspector.

The Sibyl system gives everyone the state of mind that it is safe to walk on the street in peace because you know that the people around you aren’t going to hurt you. That alone should be enough to discourage any individuals from even thinking about committing any forms of crime. Bullying others fall almost in the same category, in time anyone who bullies will eventually find that their hue starts getting cloudy and most of the time these people are the ones who run when they get flagged by a street scanner. They will then blame the system for judging them unfairly when it was their own fault to begin with but if you look at how society used to be and how it is now, the people haven’t changed.

Since the introduction of the Sibyl system I believe that things have changed for the better in certain aspects as to what kind of job you are most qualified for. In the past people would spend their whole lives trying to figure out what was best for them and most never found it but on the social level, humans haven’t changed at all and maybe most have become even more ignorant. No matter how much society evolves and how you can now be judged there will always be people that want to hurt others for their own selfish gains. In the end these people either end up being judged by the system to be unfit to continue living in this world or judged to be beyond the help of therapy and are then forced to live the rest of their lives in isolation, completely isolated from the outside world.

I hear the office door open followed by calm footsteps coming closer but I continue working none the less, my eyes fixated on my screen trying to make sense of what’s going on here. I know something definitely is wrong here, well to me it just doesn’t feel right but no matter how much I look at it, I can’t find the answers that I’m looking for. I just can’t find anything solid to actually go on…

“Nobuchika you’ve been glued to that computer all week, care to elaborate on what’s caught your attention?”

I take my eyes off the screen to look at my dad as he comes closer to my desk and I still can’t believe that he has the decency to call me by my first name at work, it’s unprofessional. He gives me that same old smile he always does as if to say oops my bad but it doesn’t really seem to bother him much but his curiosity isn’t wrong as something has caught my attention and since no one is here, I guess I can let it slide this once.

“I’m not sure yet.” I answer back, returning my attention to my screen as I rest my chin on my closed fist, hitting a few keys on my keyboard with my right hand.

A month ago a sudden rise in heart attack deaths in the elderlies caught my attention. True that such death is not uncommon but it was the number of individuals that started dying from heart failure that I found odd. In this day and age people dying from heart attacks and strokes are not something you’d hear on a regular basis due to the technologies we now have.

Things got stranger about a week ago when younger individuals started dying from the same cause, sudden heart attacks. No matter how you look at it, it just doesn’t make any sense for so many people dropping like flies like that; something very wrong is going on in this city. The last person that died from a heart attack was yesterday, a woman in her late twenties had a sudden heart attack while she was out eating with friends. From the report I found on the matter, it says that she just dropped to the ground with absolutely no prior warnings or symptoms that something was wrong. Her friends all said that she appeared to be fine and yet her heart failed her but why?

“You are not the type to waste your time looking at nothing.” I guess he’s come to know me too well on how I work but the way he can always pin point the smallest of things on a crime scene it’s not very surprising that he can figure me out like he does. Since he’s here I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get his opinion on this, like they say nothing beats a hunting dog’s sense of smell.

“Fine then… A month ago a sudden rise in heart attacks began to occur in elders throughout the city. I’ll admit it’s not uncommon for old people to die from such causes but it’s the number of deaths in a short period of time that bothers me. A week ago a red flag hit me when younger people starting dying from heart failure also. It just doesn’t feel right, no matter how you look at it, it just doesn’t make any sense.” I tell him as I show him my findings. Since my grandfather past away due to heart failure, I didn’t stop to think much about it at first when heart failure in elderly rose but when younger citizens began dying of the same cause, now that just can’t be right.

“Stress was a large factor for heart failure in the past but the Sibyl system changed that. People are now living more stress free lives than ever before. I thought that maybe these people might have been stressed because of their hues getting cloudy but all of them had perfect mental health and most of them had their hues checked the same day that they died. None of them had prior health problems until their deaths either…” I add as I close the files, waiting for his opinion on the matter.

“You’re not wrong for looking into it.” He tells me as he pulls a chair and sits down.

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions but…” I’ve never been the type to jump to a conclusion without having the hard evidence to back my statement up but a week ago the thought that someone is literately causing people to have heart attacks as a way to commit murder didn’t sound too farfetched but there’s also the chance that it might be something even more serious too.

“Murder? Could be or something causing healthy people to become ill with a sudden death, either way it’s not something you can just ignore.” He quickly replies with my two possible conclusions that I’ve been debating with all week.

If it is someone that is committing murder by causing heart failure on his victims then how do I approach this investigation? How can you induce a heart attack without causing any slight of panic in the victims in the first place? All the people that died so suddenly had pretty much the same statement from people that witness their deaths. They were with friends having a good time or were doing some outdoor activity in the park, none of them from the report even was aware that something was wrong but if it’s not someone committing murder then there is obviously something wrong going on in the city. Something is making people sick, whatever it is it could become epidemic but somehow it just doesn’t fit. The numbers of elderlies dying of heart attacks have dropped since younger people have started dying from heart failure, if it was some sort of bacteria or parasite then the numbers wouldn’t have dropped, instead it would be in a full scale rise but it isn’t.

“I know… I just don’t know how to approach something like this. What should be my move without causing a mass panic?” The moment that I make a move, I won’t be able to hide it from the media. If I tell them that I suspect foul play in the recent deaths then the public will fear for their safety and stress levels can rise for they won’t know how the murderer is killing his victims to induce a heart attack and there’s nothing I can tell them to verify anything to ease their minds. If I choose to go with the approach that something is making people sick then again I will meet similar problems, the public’s stress level will rise and what will make it worse is that I won’t be able to say what exactly is making them sick and therefore I wouldn’t be able to provide any information on how to prevent further deaths. It doesn’t matter how I look at it, I’m met with a double edge sword…

“If you ask me, your best bet is to approach this as if you are certain that it is murder and go from there.” He tells me as he stretches his right arm as he stands up.

“If I go by that it won’t be any different than chasing a ghost. I don’t have any evidence to support my claim, what I currently have is not substantial evidence.” I remarked. All I have is technological data; it’s not going to be majorly acceptable evidence unless I can find something that can prove me right.

“Nobuchika then you find the evidence that you need to pursue this case. It’s pointless starring at that screen when you know something is going on. It won’t solve the problem, the only thing that it will do is more people are going to die. Just follow your instincts son, if you smell that foul play is at work here then go by that. You’re a detective after all, trust your instincts son.” Trust my instinct he tells me… I hate it when Kougami and dad just go with their gut feelings but I can’t deny that they’ve never been wrong before but I have to do this with the system or else we’ll lose the public’s trust.

I know dad’s expression from the years of working with him; he smells murder it’s without a doubt. There’s no mistaken his sense of smell, that the least gives me confidence to make my move. If there is something, I know either Kougami or dad will find it; the question is how long is it going to take for us to find it that’s the million dollar question here…

“Alright then… It won’t hurt to investigate the matter thoroughly. That’s what we’ll do first thing in the morning and go from there.” I answer back. I quickly check my database and from what I can find out, the woman that died yesterday her funeral is not set for another three days. No autopsy has been made on the body, having died from a heart attack I don’t see any reason why the family would even suggest getting one done and I’m hoping that her body hasn’t been embalmed already. If it hasn’t then I can get an autopsy done on her body and cross my fingers that we get something.

“Good, now go home.” He insists as he hands me my jacket eagerly. Yeah it’s already ten o’clock and I’m still not home. I’ll have to take Dime out for a night walk and then shower before I can go to sleep, not to mention that I have to get up early tomorrow morning. At this rate, tomorrow is going to be a long day…

I shut down my computer, get up and take my jacket putting it on as we walk out of the office. Dad goes towards the enforcer’s quarters as I head the other way. At this hour the building is quiet and empty, only my footsteps can be heard as I pass a few drones here and there until I finally exit the building as the cool breeze of the wind hits my face. It feels much cooler than what was forecast, if the temperature continues to drop it will snow. Honestly I’m not looking forward to that, I hate the cold weather especially when we have to investigate outside it never makes our job easy.

* * *

The temperature has definitely dropped a few degrees since I left the bureau or it’s simply colder in the park next to my complex, either way it’s freezing. Dime is overly energetic tonight, I can’t throw him his ball fast enough and he doesn’t seem to be tiring out. It’s either that I’m freezing or that I’m tired and just want to take my shower so I can go to bed or it could be a bit of both.

“Good boy.” I tell him as I pat his head gently taking the ball in my hand, throwing it as far as I can and off he goes into a sprint after the ball.

Dime comes running back with the ball in his mouth, his tail wagging with joy as he drops the ball into my hand again. “Alright boy, last time. Go get it!” I order as I throw the ball as far as I can and off he goes again and like before it doesn’t take long for him to find it and come running back dropping the ball into my hand, not exhausted what so ever.

I put the ball inside my jacket pocket and take out his leash from my other pocket as he sits allowing me to hook the leash onto his collar and we jog back to the complex building. If it wasn’t for all the people around being so picky I wouldn’t even have to put Dime on a leash. He wouldn’t run off, he’s well behaved but people see a medium or large dog and instantly think that they are wild beasts. The old lady at the end of the hall on my floor is the only one I really have to watch out for, she complains at every little thing she can. She once placed a complaint that Dime had been off the leash for just a second in the hall; I wasn’t even a feet away from my apartment door. The landlord walked up to me when I was at the park and told me about the complaint he had just gotten, not bothering to hide his laughter about it and that I shouldn’t take it too seriously but to prevent the woman from complaining again that I should put Dime on his leash inside the apartment before leaving.

I’d love to be able to buy a home in a more rural area one day; I wouldn’t have to deal with annoying neighbours that can’t mind their own business. I would be able to leave Dime outside when I’m at work, he would actually be much happier than being stuck inside the apartment all day. He could bark to his heart’s content and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a notice of eviction due to the noise.

I enter the elevator and Dimes sits like I thought him to as I press the button to go up to my floor. The ding the elevator makes when the door closes always startles him but never the less he remains seated which is a great improvement since before he would jump and would try to find where the noise came from but it is to be expected. Dime is getting older; he no longer has the mind of a young puppy but that of a full grown adult now. Soon he’ll be five years old, he’s finally in his prime and the hardest work has been done and I’ll have his best for the next three years and sadly after, his health will start to decline. The facts of life I guess.

The elevator dings again and the doors opens to reveal the nag of the floor. If dad would hear me calling her the nag he’d definitely call me out on it for thinking so disrespectfully towards her but it’s true, she’s always complaining. I can’t believe that she’s still up at this hour and of course as we get off the elevator we catch her attention… Damn…

“That animal has no place in a city.” She reported in her usual snarky tone, not like I expected anything less from her.

“I’ll keep that in mind madam Kitagawa.” I acknowledge hoping to avoid an argument, I’ve learned with the elderly it is just best to agree with whatever they say but right now with the look she’s giving me, I doubt it that she’ll let me off that easily. Just my luck.

“One of these days that dog will turn on you child mark my words.” I look at Dime after she said that and he just looks at me tilting his head a bit sideways as if he’s wondering the same thing as I am. Dime turn on me? I find that rather unlikely and almost laughable that he’d ever attack me.  

“Madam Kitagawa my dog doesn’t have any malice or aggressivity. I assure you he’s completely harmless.” I try to assure her as I pat Dime’s head gently. He presses his head onto my leg as I continue patting his head, he’s just a big teddy bear he wouldn’t hurt a fly but again from her facial expression she’s not too convinced.

“My poor child how this system as made the youth careless and ignorant. That dog is not a native Japanese canine, it was imported long ago here but that animal is direct descended of the wild wolves that run wild in the cold Russian tundras and Canadian arctic.” She states.

Before adopting Dime, I did in fact do my research on the breed first to know exactly what I was getting myself into and I was alright with it. Actually from what I managed to find about the breed I was surprised at how easy Dime was to train. Everything I found about Siberian Huskies was that they were energetic and very stubborn but Dime was never very stubborn to begin with. I’m confident that I trained him well.

“I’m aware of that but I can handle Dime, I have properly trained him since he was a puppy Madam Kitagawa.” I answer back as I crouch down to rub Dime’s chest.

“I don’t doubt your skills as a handler child but you can never take the wild out of a wolf, it’s who they are. That beautiful wild instinct will always be inside him, you can see it in its eyes.” I couldn’t help but look at the old woman in slight confusion. Ever since I moved here, she has shown nothing but distain towards Dime and just now calls his ancestors’ wild nature beautiful and what’s with her calling me a child? I’m twenty-eight now; clearly I don’t look anything like a child but who knows with her.

“Beautiful? You gave me the impression Madam Kitagawa that you hated dogs.” I tell her. She gives me a smile for the first time I’ve known her since I moved here as I got back to my feet.  

“Ah! Hate dogs, no but there is a place for everything in the world child. That dog belongs in the wild where it can run to its heart’s content.” Can’t argue with that. In the past dogs like Dime were once use to pull sleighs and could run for miles and miles but in order to compensate that I make sure he gets enough exercise twice a day for about an hour and so far all is good with him but I guess nothing beats the real thing.

I look at the time quickly, argh damn already almost midnight… At this rate I won’t be getting much sleep… “I’d love to talk more Madam Kitagawa but I have work tomorrow and I have to be up early.” I tell her, trying my best not to sound rude but I really just want to go.

“What is your work again child?” She asks and I just want to go crawl into a mouse hole. What is with her tonight?

“I’m a senior inspector for the Ministry of Welfare's Public Safety Bureau in the Criminal Investigation Department.” I briefly answer and hoping that it will end with that but to my luck she isn’t letting me off…

“A very demanding and dangerous job, I’m certain it has its moments. I take it work as gotten busy lately?” She asks and somehow it doesn’t seem to surprise me that she put one plus one together and that something came up at work since for the last week I’ve been coming home much later than usual.

“I can’t really talk about my work Madam Kitagawa, it’s confidential.” I answer back and it was the truth. I can’t talk about any of the cases; doing so could cost me my job.

“I understand child.” She replies as she opens her door and finally I’m off the hook. Does she have some terminal illness or something and she’s going to die soon or what? Since I’ve lived here not once did she ever tried to talk to me and what was surprising other than her normal nag on Dime, she didn’t complain about anything else. Never the less, I can’t waste any more time tonight… I’ve already lost enough sleeping time as it is and I foresee a speech from dad if I’m too tired tomorrow.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Akane**

Sometimes I would like to take that alarm and just throw it as far as I can, I was sleeping so well this morning. Why when I have to get up early my bed feels so comfortable but when I can sleep in I just can’t stay asleep…?

Just five more minutes…

“Good morning!” Candy’s cheerful voice fills my dark room and I just want to further sink into my bed but I sit up straight instead of hiding my face under my pillow. “It’s six forty-five on December seventh! Ms. Akane Tsunemori’s Psycho-Pass hue this morning is powder blue! Have a wonderful day with that healthy mind of yours!” She joyfully adds as she floats around on top of me.

“I’m not on the day shift today… Right?” I ask already knowing full well what the answer is but somehow if I ask maybe the answer will be different.

“You’re meeting up with Ms. Yuki Funahara and Ms. Kaori Minase at Akebonobashi Station at seven fifty and at nine thirty; you start first shift duty at the Public Safety Bureau.”  She answers eagerly.

Seven thirty is so early… Kaori why couldn’t we have lunch instead of breakfast today…? Mr. Ginoza is also working the first shift today so getting more sleep would have helped me a lot… I wonder what else he’s going to make me do, it’s like he thinks I’m a child. Sometimes I wonder if he even takes me seriously at all.

“What’s your room preference for today?” Candy joyfully asks matching her floating around.

“Victor Horta’s Hotel Tassel.”

“Okay! I’ll use the library as reference!” She energetically replies and a few seconds later the room becomes bright and everything looks elegant, as expected from Victor Horta.

I get up and make my way to the bathroom not wasting too much time setting the water temperature for my shower. I can’t waste too much time, I barely have an hour to get ready and meet Kaori and Yuki at the station. The hot water feels good as I enter in the shower this morning, helping to wake me up as I wash my hair and then my body never felt so good.

“Your dietary intake yesterday was a total of two thousand and two hundred kilocalories. The proper amount for today’s breakfast is two hundred and forty kilocalories.” Candy tells me.

Oh that’s right I forgot to insert in Candy’s schedule that I won’t be having breakfast here this morning but good to know that I can’t go higher than two hundred and forty kilocalories when I’ll eat out.

“No need, I’ll have breakfast with Yuki and Kaori this morning. Please give me the weather report for today.” I order as I turn the water off.

“Certainly! Today’s weather is sunny all day long. The chance of precipitation is zero percent. The anticipated group stress in the Shinjuku Ward is Level three. I recommend you take a supplement to prevent mental contamination.” Candy further explains.

Sounds like it’s going to be a beautiful day, I sure can go with that. Last night the temperature dropped a lot, I was certain that it would have snowed. The sun will help to keep things warmer and hopefully it doesn’t cool too much today.

I dry myself off with a warm fluffy towel and start putting on my office clothes, thinking maybe if I wore pants instead of a skirt maybe Mr. Ginoza would take me more seriously or it really wouldn’t make much of a difference in the matter. Inspector Aoyanagi doesn’t wear a skirt and everyone seems to take her very seriously or maybe it’s only because she’s been an inspector for so long that no one questions her at this point.

Anyway if he has a problem with my office wear he can just say so in my face and besides it’s not his business what I wear to begin with. I quickly go to my mirror as I pull out my holo compact and start browsing the costumes that I have in my library one by one. I’m in a huge need of getting some new digital outfits, I’ve got too few.

So what should I pick to wear for breakfast with Yuki and Kaori this morning? After trying a few costumes, I decide to go with a yellow turtle neck sweater along with a gray pencil skirt and simple high heels and to top it all a sky blue pea coat.

“I guess this is okay.” I tell myself as I close my holo compact and make my way to the door. “Well then, see you later.” It’s strange how I talk to Candy as if she was a normal human being, I wonder if I’m the only one who does this, probably not but I do wonder how Mr. Ginoza acts with his holo maid. Knowing how crabby he is, it wouldn’t be very interesting to see I’m sure.

Even though Candy gave me the weather forecast for today, the air feels colder. I guess being early December it is to be expected but still it’s too cold and I waste no time getting into my car and insert my destination. The heater doesn’t take too long to kick in and I can say I am back in the comfort of warmth as I listen to some music on the way to the station. The traffic this morning is a lot calmer this early in the morning which I don’t mind because if it had been busy I probably would have arrived to the station late.

As the car enters the parking lot and comes to a halt I check the clock on the dash and much to my relief, I made it with only a few minutes to spare. I really should have set my alarm earlier but I was so tired last night I just wanted to have a few more minutes of sleep. I get out of the car and make my way to the entrance of the station. Yuki and Kaori sure are early this morning I was sure that Kaori and I would have had to wait for Yuki to get here knowing how she’s really not the morning person but here she is.

“Good morning!” I greet everyone. Only Kaori looked up at me to greet me while Yuki never even bothered to look up when she said hi, as if she’s in a half daze. I pull out a chair and sit as I look at her oddly before turning my attention to Kaori. “So… What’s new?” I ask trying to get a conversation started.

“That! I seriously need to come here more often at this hour!” Yuki quickly states as she points towards the direction she had been starring at since I got here. I turn my head to look at who she’s pointing when I had to look twice just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing any tricks on me, sadly they weren’t much to my dismay.

“Mr. Ginoza?” I blurt out without thinking. Since when does he come here? I’ve never seen him eat here once since we started coming here, he must be sick or something but it’s too early to see him already so please let it be that he didn’t notice me.

“Akane you know him?” Yuki exclaims, her face so close to mine that our nose almost touches.

“Well yeah he’s kind of my boss in a way. He’s the senior inspector for my division.” I state but this is so embarrassing and awkward, why did he have to be here this morning and why did Yuki have to notice him and why did I have to blurt out his name, this day can’t get any worst.

“Shut up Akane! You mean to tell me that you’ve been working with a gorgeous man like that for the last month and you never thought of telling us that hot piece of gossip?” At this point I just want to sink into my chair fearing that Mr. Ginoza will hear us. I quickly glance towards him; so far so good he seems focus on something he’s reading. I return my attention back to Yuki as I place my finger in front of my lips hinting that she should lower her tone.

“It didn’t cross my mind…” Was the only thing I could think to say on the spur of the moment and praying that Yuki drops the subject altogether. Honestly talking about Mr. Ginoza with my friends is actually the last subject I’d rather go on.  

“Akane you so have to introduce me. I’ve been trying to formulate a way to approach him since I got here.” Somehow, how she’s acting since I got here it doesn’t surprise me.

“Mr. Ginoza isn’t really mister friendly okay Yuki. I already have enough trouble at work with him as it is so please don’t make it worst for me.” I ask, more like I’m begging her to drop it not like it would do any good though. What Yuki wants, she always has to have it and I just can’t help but let out a sigh at just the thought of it.

“It can’t be that bad Akane.” Kaori says much to my dismay that she’s siding with Yuki on this instead of having my back.

“Yeah look at him and tell me that’s not the face of a gentle man who needs a cuddle.” Gentle man maybe but I’m still waiting to see this gentleness Yuki seems to see in Mr. Ginoza, all I see of him on a daily basis is his constant arguments with Mr. Masaoka and Mr. Kougami. At this point no one can tell me otherwise that Mr. Ginoza has a personal grudge against both of them.

“It is that bad Kaori. He picks on me for every little thing, I honestly feel like shoving my keyboard down his throat sometimes.” I tell them but somehow I feel like I’m the bad guy here… This is going to be a long day isn’t it…?

“Akane have you ever thought for a minute that maybe he’s hard on you because he sees a potential deep within and he just wants to see you excel so he pushes you as hard as he can but he knows that you can actually handle it?” I never thought about that before now that Kaori mentioned it but still does he have to be a jerk all of the time.

I’ve been an inspector for a little over a month now and I can’t even say I know anything about Mr. Ginoza. The only thing I know is his age and that’s it. His interests, hobbies, things that he likes and doesn’t like are all things that he never shows at work nor does he talk about. I’ve seen how other inspectors act with their partners, they talk and seem very close to each other but at this point I don’t think that I’ll ever have a partnership with Mr. Ginoza like that. It feels like he’s got a wall up between us and he just doesn’t want me to get close to him, I wonder why… Could it be something to do about Mr. Kougami having been demoted to an enforcer?

“Like you said he is your senior. He’s training you; it’s his job to push you to your limit otherwise he wouldn’t be doing a very good job if he trained a rookie and produced zero percent of results.” Kaori adds as she points her fork at me for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her food.

Maybe they’re right but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s hard on my nerves. Perhaps I should talk with Mr. Masaoka; maybe he could help me out on how to deal with Mr. Ginoza better or something but I hate going behind my coworkers’ backs though.

“So Akane what are my chances with him?” I still can’t believe Yuki just asked me that. What are her chances with him is really a hard question to answer. Mr. Ginoza barely talks to anyone, the only person he does talk to from what I’ve seen is to inspector Aoyanagi but she’s always the one who initiates a conversation and it never does last long.

“Hard to say.” I answer as I order what I want to eat this morning.

“Well wish me luck.” She says as she quickly checks her face in her pocket mirror and gets up.

“Yuki wait!” And she’s gone before I could even stop her. This is going to be disastrous I just hope she won’t mention me; the last thing I want is for Mr. Ginoza thinking that I tried to hook him up with one of my friends.

“I guess that’s what you call love at first sight, let’s just hope that she doesn’t crash and burn.” Kaori blurts out as she takes a bit of her pancake.

Let’s hope so as we watch her try her luck while eating our breakfast and I ignore Kaori’s teasing as I sink myself a little in my chair hoping that if he does look this way he won’t notice me. Yuki approaches Mr. Ginoza’s table and I don’t know what she told him but she sat down at the table. That’s surprising but Yuki is quite beautiful so why wouldn’t Mr. Ginoza not be interested in her and it looks like she’s trying to get a conversation going. Things seem to be going good; he hasn’t ignored her but by his expression I can’t tell if he’s actually enjoying talking to Yuki or if he’s annoyed.

Mr. Ginoza gets up and walks away, leaving Yuki by herself before she comes back to join us and she looks pretty disappointed as she sits back down.

“I told you Yuki not to go.” I tell her.

“He had to go to work it would seem. Bummer.” She tells us but that’s odd as I check the time. Only eight fifteen and our shift doesn’t start until nine thirty so why is he coming in early unless he just used that as an excuse to get away from Yuki.

* * *

I think we should do this more often, I was dead tired when I woke up this morning but now especially after eating breakfast I feel so full of energy and just teasing Yuki for not being able to woo Mr. Ginoza with her charms was quite funny.

Since I’ve known Yuki she has never failed to woo a guy, it did not matter what she wore or what she did Yuki never failed except for this morning. Knowing Yuki, she’ll definitely go back to the train station at the exact time just to get a win but knowing Mr. Ginoza also well I can only fear more failures to come for Yuki.

“Mr. Kougami and Mr. Masaoka aren’t here yet?” I ask Kagari after I entered the office as I made my way to my desk.

Normally when both of them are on duty, they are always here before Kagari and Ms. Kunizuka and to top the oddness, Mr. Ginoza isn’t here either. He’s never late for anything and since he told Yuki that he needed to go to work, he should be here already unless he really did use that as an excuse just to get away from her.

“They’re with Gino. Apparently he had to check something out so he took old Masaoka and Kou with him. They’ve been gone for a while now actually.” Kagari replies never taking his eyes off his game.

“Mr. Ginoza didn’t say what it was about?” I ask as I place my things away at my work space before I sit down and turn on my computer.

“No he didn’t but it must be something serious otherwise the senior inspector wouldn’t bother looking into something that wasn’t.” Ms. Kunizuka adds as she flips a page of her magazine.

“Yeah, especially that he took Kou and Masaoka with him.” Kagari adds and that’s what I find very odd that he chose Mr. Kougami and Mr. Masaoka instead of Kagari and Ms. Kunizuka considering how he seems to have some vendetta against both of them for some unknown reason.

Both Mr. Kougami and Mr. Masaoka are great at getting into the mind of a criminal. They can sniff out a murder way before any hard evidence are discovered but Mr. Ginoza never listens to them so why even bother bringing them with him unless he’s in a bad mood and just wants to cut down at their throat.

“Yeah but why so early this morning?” I ask myself in a muttered tone. Obviously not low enough as I receive a shrug from Kagari in a response that he had no clue.

Mr. Ginoza didn’t mention anything yesterday that he would go investigate something so early this morning, he could have at least talked to me about it first instead of leaving me hanging and going behind my back. I’m also a detective and more importantly I’m his partner for a month now and yet…

The sound of the automatic doors opening jolts me out of my thoughts as Mr. Ginoza goes straight to his desk taking off his coat before sitting down. From his facial expression he doesn’t seem to be in a bad mood but there’s something bothering him. The look in his eyes, he looks trouble.

“Without a doubt it’s murder alright.” Mr. Masaoka voices out as he sits down at his workspace.

Murder? What murder? I’m just sitting here, starring at Mr. Masaoka to Mr. Kougami and back to Mr. Ginoza keeping quiet and hoping that my confusion isn’t too obvious.

“How they are doing it is what I’d like to know.” Mr. Ginoza asks after a few minutes of silence. Somehow the atmosphere in the office suddenly just became grim as I just stare at Mr. Ginoza hoping that whatever he’s been busy looking at since this morning won’t become like the case at the factory but I have a bad feeling about this.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Ginoza**

Good thing I arrived at the morgue so early this morning, if I had been about fifteen minutes late the body would have been in the process of getting embalmed and I wouldn’t have been able to request that it goes through an autopsy. The Undertaker was preparing his supplies when we arrived at the morgue, can’t say it was pleasant to stop him so abruptly. The parents however were not too cooperative on allowing the body of their daughter to be brought out of the morgue to the medical center to have the autopsy done though, but in the end they had a zero say in the matter since the body serves as evidence for murder and they were rather shocked that their daughter could have been murdered. Her father just didn’t want to believe it, no parents wants to believe that their kid was taken away from them by someone else.

It’s hard when you want to do your job the best you can and all you want to do is save people from having their lives taken away leaving their loved ones in grief and maybe possibly leading some to become latent criminals. Sometimes in order to do exactly that you don’t necessarily get liked for it, most of the time you see people eyeing you as if their eyes were daggers and if looks could kill you’d be dead. That’s the exact look I received this morning as the body was being boarded into the transport to be taken away.

Meer Allister was simply your average twenty-nine year old woman living an average life working at an average job. Her hue was powder blue before her death and she had never gotten a single conflict from what I was able to gather. Everyone got along well with her, Meer was apparently kind and generous and no one believed for a second that anyone would want to bring her any harm.

The moment dad saw the body, just the look in his eyes I knew he had his confirmation that he needed. Honestly to me just starring at her body I didn’t see anything special but to dad it was clear as day, not even Kougami questioned him but exactly how was she killed. Her body had no bruises nor did it seem ill so how does a murderer go about killing someone without leaving a single trace behind?

I’ve been going through the database again while waiting for the autopsy report to come in and I just can’t stick everything together so it makes perfect sense. Right now nothing makes much sense and yet I know the answer is there somewhere. The only thing that gives me a little confidence is that dad is positive about this being murder. I hate going on gut feelings, I want and I need hard evidence otherwise I’ll be forced to close this case as being nothing.

After I got back, Tsunemori has been rather odd this morning. She’s been more quiet than usual and for some sort of reason she keeps avoiding eye contact like she’s hiding something. Odd morning for an odd day at work with my partner it would seem. First some random girl comes up to me asking if she could sit at the same table because there were no free ones left which was kind of understandable I guess but trying to get a conversation with someone you don’t even know is rather odd and now Tsunemori is all weird or maybe it’s something with the moon making the girls acting odd today.

I just hope that I at least get some positive results, I still have division one’s reputation to uphold and if this turns out to be nothing it’s going to hurt the team big time. This is mainly the reason why I acted on my own this morning, if this turns out to be nothing I’ll be the one who will get everything on my shoulders and Tsunemori will be able to wipe her hands clean with no problem. Since she’s a rookie, she can’t afford to get in too many trouble with the brass unlike I can. I have  the experience to back me up while Tsunemori doesn’t so I can do some gamble in a sense and if my gamble doesn’t pay off I’ll only get a slap on the wrist and that will be it but I’ve never failed while taking a gamble before though. I’d hate for it to back fire in my face.

The little hours of sleep I’ve been getting in the past week is starting to hit me hard and it’s only one past ten in the afternoon, still four hours to go with still so much to do… I add some sugar and cream into my coffee before stirring the content.

“Slow down on the coffee Gino.”

I look up from my coffee to meet Kougami’s sarcastic grin as he walks up to my desk not trying to hide his curiosity as he peeks at what I had been reading on my screen. No use arguing with him about that habit of his, not like he’ll listen to me anyway and since everyone is gone on their break it really doesn’t matter right now what he does.

“I need something to wake me up.” I tell him as I take a sip at the hot beverage, I should have added a bit more sugar it taste bitter but I don’t feel like going back in the cafeteria to get a few more packs of sugar so it will have to do.

“Ooh, late night?”

“Very.” I answer back just wanting for Kougami to leave already or be quiet. Clearly ever since he’s become a latent criminal his maturity level has dropped down by half of what it used to be which at times back then I seriously wondered what his mental age was.

“My man has finally become a grown man.” Why didn’t I see that one coming from a mile away, he never changes…?

“Not that kind of a late night Kougami, get your head out of the gutter.” I tell him much to his disappointment. Seriously what does he expect? He got careless and got too close to an enforcer after I told him over and over again not to and that landed him becoming a latent criminal himself. Because of that I lost my partner and got both my work load and his on my shoulders to cover and to give me even more work and added stress that I really did not need I’ve had to train two inspectors who they themselves got too careless and reckless which got them both killed on the field. All of that within two years’ time and now I have Tsunemori to train who is just as reckless as the others were and maybe is even worst, it’s just too much. At the end of the day I’m too exhausted to do anything else but crash at home.

Tsunemori is getting too close to the enforcers, she can’t put into her thick head that the enforcers are the ones who do the most dangerous work while out on the field. It’s not uncommon for an enforcer to die on the line of duty. Inspectors must draw a hard line between themselves and the enforcers no matter what… Getting to know someone like that, it’s only natural that you get closer to them and a bond forms so when they die in an investigation gone wrong, it gives a shock to one’s psycho-pass. This is why inspectors and enforcers can’t be close no matter how much you want to, it’s better if you keep your distance.

If I stop and look at what I have left in this world, this job is all there is. If I do it right, like an inspector should I don’t have time for anything else. Not like I’d want to anyway, in this kind of work I never know if I’ll come back home so why put someone in that kind of stress every day? It’s not worth it…

“Lighten up Gino and breathe a little will you.”

“I’m not getting into this conversation with you Kougami.” I tell him as I try to get back to work.

“Not like it would make any difference Gino.” He suddenly blurts out as he sits down at his work station.  “We haven’t had a real conversation since I got demoted.”

“I wonder why…” Not really bothering to put in much effort of sounding interested in this topic as I spoke. It’s all something he should already know, the moment Kougami became an enforcer… When he decided to abandon me for the other side of the law he chose to have this separation between us… It was a given that would happen, he of all people should have known that.

“That’s right Psycho-Hazard…” Now he’s just mocking me by answering in the same tone I just gave him, sometimes he can be such a pain. “So how’s your hue?” He asks and I have to control the urge to just tell him to take a hike, I don’t have to answer him that but that won’t stop him from trying to pry the answer out of me later.

“My hue is fine.” I respond as I glance at Kougami just lazily sitting in his chair with both hands behind his head with not a single care in the world.

My hue honestly could be better, it hasn’t been exactly perfect for a while but I blame it on the lack of sleep I’ve been getting lately it sure isn’t helping but my hue isn’t in the critical yet, by all means it’s still in its sixties but I guess I really should be looking into it but I don’t want to leave Tsunemori on her own either and yet I need a break. Heaven knows that I surely deserve one, a long overdue vacation.

“It better be. You’re not suited for this life if you ask my opinion so you better make sure you don’t land in the dog pound with us.” His comment catches my attention away from my work. Where did that come from, exactly where is he going with this?

“And you’re more suited for this?” I inquire at his comment giving him my full attention and just there his expression changed from bored to interested. I just made his day I think that I haven’t shut him out yet.

“I haven’t failed as your enforcer have I?” He blurts out.

“… No…” I muttered the word. Yeah I’ll be honest, he hasn’t let me down or failed me since he’s been an enforcer but that’s not what I needed him to be. I needed him to be my partner, a fellow inspector on the right side of the law and not as a latent criminal. Kougami has always been there, always had my back but two years ago he really let me down. He went to a side that I just can’t follow…

“Gino if you ask me, everything is already pre-determined by Sybil. It decides who is worth redeeming to come back to society and who gets locked up for life just like it was always decided about my fate. My hue didn’t just climb because of Sasayama’s death, it didn’t help but it wasn’t just that. It’s like the system had long decided that I was no longer needed in this society.” He added and I can’t believe that he would even suggest something like that. Thinking that way is exactly why his hue got cloudy in the first place, he doubts the system and in turn the system started doubting him.

“Don’t be delusional Kougami-”

“I’m not, I’m being serious. You know when I was in the rehabilitation center; I was never actually given any forms of therapy to have my Psycho-Pass lowered. I saw some getting treatment more than three times a day and eventually they were cleared while others got nothing and I was one of them.” He states and I can’t call it bullshit. I know that look in his eyes, he’s saying the truth but it’s the first time I hear of this. He’s never said anything after he was release but I never did ask him about it either.

“Don’t doubt the system.” I finally manage to tell him. I can’t believe that specific people are chosen in the rehabilitation center to be healed while others are completely ignored. Everyone is important, not just a select few.

“I’m not doubting the system, the Sybil system want it or not is now necessary for this society to properly function. You clearly have the Sybil system’s good grace on your side Gino; make sure you don’t lose it and when you do two more years of service get the hell out of this field as fast as possible.” So that’s what he had in the back of his head. Just to tell me to get out of this profession that I’ve worked for eight years now. I don’t regret my choice, this is a job that someone must do to protect the innocents.

“That’s rich coming from you.” He gives me a smile to my sarcastic reply before lighting up a cigarette. I must say that is one bad habit that he picked up after his demotion; it not only clouds his hue but also damages his health. Clearly he’s hopeless at this point, definitely something he took from Sasayama.

“That may be…”

An alert from my computer catches my attention; it’s a call from Shion. I cross my fingers as I answer the call as a new window opens up revealing her face.

“Shion tell me you have something useful for me.” I ask her. I hadn’t realized how nervous I was until I needed to breathe. How idiotic but if she has nothing for me it won’t look good for division one, even Kougami is completely focused on Shion.

“Well that depends on what you’d call useful.” She starts signalling a red flag but none the less she continues. “From the autopsy report the victim died from either two causes which are in debate.”

That’s rather odd; you can’t die from two things. It’s usually the more severe illness if more are present. “How so?” I ask.

“She either died from asphyxiation causing her to go into cardiac arrest or the other way around. Needless to say she has signs of both that occurred but unfortunately there’s nothing more I can give you. Nothing else came out abnormal in her body but the fact of the lack of oxygen in her body at the time of her death is not normal.” She explains. Yeah that is problematic but it’s evident which one caused what. The heart attack did not cause asphyxiation, the asphyxiation caused the heart attack and just that alone is enough to give me a green light to continue this investigation as a first degree murder case.

“Then it’s obvious that it’s murder, you don’t asphyxiate just like that.” Kougami states.

“Yeah but how is he even doing it? None of the victims even suspected something was wrong until they collapsed.” I ask the question I desperately want the answer to and I have a bad feeling that a lot more people are going to die before I can even find that answer.

“Sorry I don’t have anything else to tell you, that’s what the entire autopsy revealed.” Shion apologized not that she needs to.

“Alright, thanks.” I acknowledge before I disconnect the call. I got the answer that I wanted but things just somehow got more complicated…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Ginoza**

For the next few days, a new victim would surface. The individuals are just like the previous ones; they are young and healthy but died from a heart attack during their normal activities. An autopsy was requested and done on each and the same results as the previous ones came up, that they died from asphyxiation causing their heart to fail.

No matter how I look at it, it just doesn’t make any sense so how can I stop this murderer from killing when I can’t even figure out how he’s doing it. I hate this, I’ve been an inspector for eight years and I’ve seen some pretty nasty crime scenes and some odd ways to murder people but I’ve never seen anything like this before. I need a different approach, no matter how I look at it, it’s like the murderer is trying to force me to go around the Sybil system. Like he wants me to put it aside to find the answer that I need but I can’t do that…

Today was supposed to be my day off but Tsunemori called me about a missing girl who went for a jog this morning but hasn’t returned or been seen since she left. Of course since our current case has hit a slight wall for now it was only natural that this missing person case be given to us. Tsunemori expressed her concerns that maybe this case could be somewhat connected to the current one we are working on and quite frankly it makes sense to theorize the possibility. However, it’s the location the girl supposedly went for a jog this morning that I found odd, it’s in a rural area and if her disappearance is somewhat connected then the murderer left his safe zone and if that’s the case this isn’t good for us, he’s expending and that will make it even harder for us to catch him.

A death every day since Tuesday and even though it’s Saturday I’m more than certain another one has occurred today or will occur, I just hope the missing girl just got lost. She’s young, the youngest so far if she ends up being our new victim. Hiyori Clyne, seventeen years old and an honor student with a bright future ahead of her, I’d really hate to come up to her dead body.  

It’s frustrating, it’s like I can’t afford to take time off from this case and yet I need my rest otherwise I’ll only end up clouding my already clouded hue… Tsunemori is still too green to be left on her own with a case of this caliber so I’ll just have to tough it out until it’s over and hope for the best. I don’t have a choice in the matter.

From the statement that we got from Hiyori’s parents she woke up like she usually does at an early morning hour of seven, ate breakfast, got dressed and left the house around eight for her daily jog towards the fields. Normally she’s always gone for about two to three hours and comes back to take her shower and resume her day but this morning she didn’t return. Her father went out looking for her but came back empty ended and that’s when we were called in to come look for her.

Over three hours has passed since Hiyori was officially announced missing, we were quick on the scene so her trail could still be warm. I’m just hoping that she didn’t go too far, there are so many acres to cover with so few…

“She’s dead.” Kougami blurts out as if it’s nothing. It’s just like him to say things like that even though we have no proof to prove that she’s in fact deceased.

“It’s still early to make that assumption Kougami.” I tell him, taking my dominator out of its holster as the others do the same.

“Gino you know as much as I do she disappeared because someone made her disappear. She’s dead and we’ll be lucky to even be able to find the body in this kind of location undamaged.” Kougami further adds and even though I have a few things I’d like to say to him, I can’t deny that deep down I know we won’t find her alive and yes it angers me that another innocent person who is so young and had so much she could have accomplished got her life snatched away. That I will be the one who will have to knock on that door and give the parents the news that their daughter is dead, to see their facial expression as they break apart and there’s nothing I can do or say that will make it better other than give them my word that I’d catch the one responsible and bring them to justice.

“We’ll split up into two teams. Kougami and Masaoka you two go with inspector Tsunemori. Kunizuka and Kagari you two are with me.” I order and none complain which is surprising since Kagari always has to say his word but this time nothing. “It might be for nothing but still… Tsunemori you check the old barn. In the past those barns were often designed with an underground shelter so make sure to check that out. I’ll take the field; contact me if you find anything.” I add.

“Roger that sir.” Tsunemori acknowledges and we take our separate ways.

I make my way towards the fields while Kagari takes the woods on the left and Kunizuka takes the woods on the right, carefully inspecting the ground for footprints or anything that could help us locate Hiyori but so far nothing. A search dog would have come in handy right now and it’s unfortunate that Dime isn’t good when it comes to searching for particular scents, it would have helped us in our search greatly.

The ground is a bit frozen; I don’t think we’ll be able to find any footprints out here, if we do it will be a complete miracle. If only the field would be better managed, the over grown grass only makes my search harder. The ground seems leveled but there are a lot of knee deep holes here and there. Some of these holes were clearly made by cave-ins, in other words sink-holes. Others were caused by the old ways by heavy machinery but anyway it’s safe to put into consideration that Hiyori could have been jogging this morning and could have been caught in a sink-hole. Such incidents were not uncommon in the past and most of the time the victims caught in this natural disaster often twisted their ankles or worst case scenario, they broke their ankle or leg and were unable to get out themselves until helped arrived.

A drop hits my cheek and my reflex is to look up to the sky as another hit my forehead, great just what we needed. Rain… The weather forecast said that it would be cloudy today and there was only a twenty percent chance of precipitation I guess they got it wrong this time. Well it matches with the odd temperature we’ve gotten since Monday. It was so cold Monday night and Tuesday morning was still a bit frigid but the rest of the week it started warming up.

The wind from earlier has sudden dropped down, not a single leaf in a tree is dancing and yet the greyish clouds who only seem to be getting darker by the minute are moving rather strangely. A sudden flash illuminate the darken sky as more drops of rain come falling down.

* * *

 

**Chapter 4.5**

**Kougami**

Gino always had a talent to spot potential cases that doesn’t always look like murder at first glance but when you stop and really observe carefully you see it. This case is no different but going to the next step, to find the proof he needs to catch a murderer is always his biggest challenge. He doubts himself too much and he follows the Sybil system by the book and sometimes to catch the bad guy you can’t necessarily follow the book.

I understand why he acts that way though; fear that he’ll fall from grace and become one of us is without a doubt the reason. I know he didn’t like what I said about the girl being already dead but he knows that I’m right. He’s just in denial, just trying to keep a positive thinking and I guess he may be right in doing so. Anyway, Gino found us a case to solve so it’s up to me to find what he needs and I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. What I do no longer matters anymore, I’m already a latent criminal, nothing more than a hunting dog to be used and that’s fine by me.

The barn is a complete mess but its basic structure still seems to be solid enough to support its weight even though it’s been abandoned for who knows how many years now. The interior structure is a bit different for the upper flooring seems rather weak, I doubt it that anyone would have gotten up there without crashing down hard. The old stable where horses and other large animals used to be kept still have old rotten hay in them but have long been vacant.

Tsunemori is staying rather close to me today; I don’t even think she knows what to look for out here. No matter what, crime scenes in the city area and crime scenes more in a rural section are going to be different. It’s easy to spot things that are out of place in the city but in a place like this, you can’t search fast or else you might miss an important piece of evidence.  The major challenge when searching for evidence in places like this is that we can’t really use the forensic bots to gather up evidence. Well we can but with so much junk lying around it would take forever for them to gather up everything and finish so it’s better that we do it ourselves instead.

I’m not sure what’s up between Tsunemori and Gino, she hasn’t been able to look him in the eye all week and he doesn’t seem a bit interested in knowing why either or like usual he just doesn’t notice which wouldn’t surprise me. How he can notice something a crime in progress by simply looking at data and not being able to notice when let’s say someone flirts with him will always be the biggest question on my list needed to be answer.

“Pops…” I call out catching his attention as I remove some dirt and hay out of the way with my foot revealing a hatch before grabbing the rusted metal handle and pull to open the rather heavy latch revealing an underground shelter just like Gino had talked about.

I turn on the flashlight as I go down the wooden steps that have started to decay from the moisture of the earth, carefully going down each step until I reach the bottom. Tsunemori climbs down after I give her the okay followed by pops as I go deeper into the shelter. It’s much larger than what I had first expected, I’m not sure exactly how it was made but it doesn’t look like it’s on the verge of sinking in. The shelter itself is probably still functional if it were cleaned out and maybe renovated to make it sturdier.

“What was that?” Akane asks as she looks up from the entrance. I knew she was jumpy but I didn’t think she was this anxious about the case.

“Sounds like thunder inspector.” I tell her not bothering to hide my urge to laugh as she gives me that stare telling me that I shouldn’t dare but I couldn’t remove the grin on my face.

Today just doesn’t seem to be our day, everything that could go wrong on a case seems to be happening. The worst thing that could happen to us when looking for a missing person is fucking rain. If by chance of miracle the girl was still alive, her chances of survival just dropped by forty percent. If she’s panicked and injured add another twenty percent so we are now at a drop of sixty percent and the odds only keep dropping from there by the hour…

There doesn’t seem to be anything in the shelter, nothing worth wild anyway. Pops is in the far end doing his own inspection when something catches my ears. What the hell is that sound? It sounds like one of those old freight trains they used in the past which is strange since there are no train tracks even nearby. The sound seems to be coming closer and closer when suddenly the latch suddenly slams shut and a violent howling could be heard from outside as the sound of wood being torn and scattered along with banging on the latch. The banging itself sounds like someone is throwing a bunch of marbles at the same time while a hissing howl is all that we can hear.

I quickly turn on my terminal, wasting no time calling Gino but nothing. I try calling Kunizuka and much to my relief I get an answer… What the hell is going on?

“Kunizuka status?” I demand.

“I don’t know all of the sudden the wind just picked up like crazy.” She explains and I can barely hear her due to all the background noise.

“Where are Gino and Kagari?” I ask.

“Kagari took the woods just like I did, Ginoza took the field-”

The signal to our call died as I felt my gut dropped as the latch started to shake as pops urges us to go deeper into the shelter using himself as a shield for Tsunemori but I can’t move away as I stare at the latch that is now violently shaking while Tsunemori calls out to me to get away before it opens but all I can think of is about the others who had taken to the field and just as it came everything suddenly went quiet like nothing had ever happened.

I quickly climbed up the rotten steps and forcefully pushed the latch open but what I saw wasn’t what I was expecting. The barn… There’s nothing left but pieces of wood that got snapped in half and scattered everywhere, you can’t even tell that a barn even stood here just a few moments ago. A mess of old broken pieces of wood that got ripped apart like they were nothing more than a toothpick. On the ground laid balls the size of marbles of ice. The sky is gray and not even breeze could be felt compared to when we had first arrived and not a sound met my ears.

I push away the debris of wood out of the way as I leave pops and Tsunemori on their own and I head out towards the field frantically searching for the signs of the others but see nothing. All I see is unrooted trees and pieces of what used to be the barn scattered and even some pieces had impaled the ground and were sticking up almost straight.

“Gino!” I call out as I look around. I feel like I ran for miles, my breath is rapid and short while my heart is beating like a drum. It feels like time has suddenly stopped or is now gone in complete slow motion as I search for any signs of life when I finally get a sense of relief when I see Kagari and Kunizuka come out of the wood in a hurry without a scratch on them and deeper into the field I finally see Gino getting up and before I even knew it I bolted into a run towards him as I call out his name again. He turns around to meet my gaze, covered in mud but he doesn’t seem to be hurt.

“Gino! Are you alright? What the hell happened!?” I ask but he doesn’t answer. He keeps looking around as if still processing himself what exactly happened. No, more like he’s in shock and my reflex were to grab his face in my hands as I call out to him until he finally snapped out of it.

“Where is-”

“We’re alright Gino. Are you injured?” I ask as I let go of him but he simply shook his head in response as we start walking towards the others out of the field when Gino suddenly stops as if searching for something.

“Where’s the paddy wagon?” He blurts out and just as he finished asking we hear a loud crash to our right about six or seven feet away. That answers the question; the chief isn’t going to be too thrilled when she hears about this that’s for sure.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Ginoza**

When I saw the sky darken and the flash of lightning followed by the rain I didn’t really bother much about it until marble sized hail started coming down and the clouds started going in a rotation formation that I knew something wasn’t right but it all happened so fast there was no time to think. Hail started coming down harder and harder as the wind started picking up all of a sudden and the last thing I saw before I jumped into a trench that had been made by heavy machinery was the clouds that were descending towards the ground.

Hail, rain, heavy winds and a loud violent growling noise was all I could hear as I laid on my stomach covering my head with my arms hoping that somehow I’d be alright. For what felt like an eternity only lasted about ten to fifteen minutes before all went calm again. What the hell was that? I’ve never seen anything as crazy as that.

I slowly got up, peeking my head out of the trench hole and got out when the coast was clear when I hear Kougami yelling my name as I turn around to see him running towards me like a madman. “Gino! Are you alright? What the hell happened!?” He asks as I look around. So much damage, how can so much damage have been made in only a few minutes?

The warmth of Kougami’s hands snaps me out of my thoughts as he calls out to me again when the safety of the others comes into my mind. Dad and Tsunemori must be fine if Kougami is here but what about Kunizuka and Kagari?

“Where is-”

“We’re alright Gino. Are you injured?” He tells me as he finally lets go of my face and I simply shook my head to answer his question. Kunizuka and Kagari have already joined up with Tsunemori and Dad on the field’s edge next to what used to be the barn that is now reduced to nothing but a pile of rubble. As we walk back I can’t help but stop as I look around.

“Where’s the paddy wagon?” I ask when suddenly a loud crash makes me jump only to find the paddy wagon itself had fallen only a few feet away from where we stood. If the paddy wagon got thrown into the air like that it’s safe to assume that the MWPSB car is also a total lost. The chief isn’t going to like this one bit; I can’t seem to be getting a break…

“Nobuchika! Are you alright?” Dad asks once we join them, clearly worried can’t say that I blame him.

“I’m fine…” I answer. I’m fine but filthy and with all this craziness my glasses are cracked so great… I have mud everywhere; this is going to take forever to get out of my hair…

Looks like no one got hurt which is a relief, even though Kunizuka and Kagari were technically outside with me, other than being soaken wet you wouldn’t be able to tell they experienced the same thing I did unless the woods actually saved them from the worst. Tsunemori wasted no time explaining how they had been lucky that the barn indeed had an underground shelter which is probably what saved their lives considering the condition of the barn which I’m grateful for. If it hadn’t been for that deep trench, who knows what would have happened to me. I probably would have flown off just like the paddy wagon and the car wherever it may be.

* * *

Nothing is more embarrassing then having to call for assistance from another division especially the request was also for a paddy wagon and vehicle. Luckily division two was the only available one to come on dispatch, the other one I’d rather jump off a cliff than accept help from those two. Risa didn’t spare me any of the jokes when she got to the scene, she enjoyed herself a little too much teasing me about how dirty I looked.

Once they got to the scene, division one was to hand over the missing girl case to division two and return to the MWPSB immediately and I had to go straight to the chief’s bureau. No time to clean up, no excuse the moment we were to arrive I was to head to her right away which can’t be good for me. Can’t say that it’s a pleasant experience having to walk up to the chief’s office all covered in mud from head to toe; it surely isn’t what I’d call professional but here I am in front of my boss and I can’t tell if she’s unimpressed or disappointed either way I look like shit.

“Inspector Ginoza please take a seat.” She tells me.

I’m still a bit shaking from what happened earlier but considering how filthy I am, it wouldn’t be a good idea. “By all means chief I think it be best if I stand.” I answer, slightly gesturing at my appearance. I’d hate to dirty her office furniture.

“Very well.” She acknowledges as she places her electronic cube on her desk placing her full attention upon me. “You inspectors have high demanding jobs and I see the recent case is a very troublesome one indeed.”

I knew it that she’d bring it up, a whole week has passed and I can’t seem to get over that wall that is in my way. It’s frustrating considering all the amount of technology we have and we can’t find a simple answer as to how these victims are being killed, what is causing for them to asphyxiate?

“There are certain things we still need answers for but without a doubt someone is causing healthy citizens to die and passing them as heart failures.” I firmly answer, without a doubt in my statement.

“Yes I agree and I thank you inspector for your actions to bring this problem to surface and that is why I strongly value your opinions as an inspector.” She so casually declares and yet it feels odd getting such a compliment from her.

“Thank you chief but my team should be finishing searching for-”

“The young teenage girl that went missing this morning? No use keeping it a secret but division two has found the young girl in the woods not too far from where your team was. Unfortunately the body has been damaged; the cause of death could be multiple causes.” Somehow I shouldn’t be surprised by the Chief’s revelation. Kougami called it right from the start and I knew in the back of my mind that we wouldn’t have found her alive but part of me wished that for once Kougami would have been wrong.

Thinking back at the crazy phenomenon that happened earlier, anything could have happened to her. Debris could have damaged her body or she might have been thrown by the high winds, needless to say we aren’t any closer to finding who killed her…

“My team will do better next time Chief.” Was all I could think of saying. Not being able to save a life is always hard to take, especially not being able to save someone so young. Hiyori Clyne, by all means she deserved to live…

“I do not doubt your words Ginoza. You are a passionate man who will not stop until the wrong doers are caught and brought to justice. I strongly admire that quality from you inspector but…” Again with the compliments, I didn’t think she thought so highly of me considering how my father is a latent criminal and my previous partner also became one, the stigma of both should be on my shoulders. “Your crime co-efficient is a concern, it is dangerously high.” So she’s already aware, not that it is any bit surprising. I’d have to be an idiot to think that the Chief wouldn’t have noticed but her tone grew firmer as she spoke those words.

“I’m aware that my crime co-efficient is now seventy-one from this morning but I’m fine it’s nothing to worry about Chief.” I declare, trying to assure her but to no avail as she kept her stare right on me, not breaking eye contact for a few seconds before turning her attention to her computer monitor.

“Ginoza I see that you have not taken a vacation leave for the last three years. Am I correct?” Her question was sharp as she looked at me with the corner of eye, studying me closely. No use lying my way out of this one.

“Yes Chief, I simply couldn’t afford to take time off considering the circumstances.” I explained and it was true. With the Specimen case causing so much trouble and then Kougami’s demotion, to training new inspectors I just did not have any time to myself. Of all people, the Chief should know that.

“I believe that it may be time that you do, Ginoza. You qualify for a two week vacation leave; I believe that it will do you good.” She remarked.

I can’t believe that she wants me to take leave for two weeks considering the case that we have that is still unsolved and that we are not even close at solving it. “Chief by all means there is someone murdering people every day. You know that I can’t afford to take time off as long as this criminal remains at large!”

“Are you refusing?” Her tone grew darker as she asked her question. I feel whatever I answer that I will be playing with fire but I can’t back down. People’s lives are at stake, one person doesn’t compensate for hundreds and I’m willing to make that sacrifice if it means innocent people’s lives will be saved.

“For now I must decline. I can’t leave my division with only inspector Tsunemori in charge; she’s not ready to be left on her own.” I state.

Tsunemori sure has a lot of potential but she’s still young and new at this job but I know she’ll be good at it given time so I just can’t turn my back on her like this. Once this case is over I will take some time off and get everything sorted out.

“I understand your concerns Ginoza but is this your final decision?” She asks.

If it’s my final decision? There was never any other decision for me to do, this is my job and I will do it right until it’s over. “I’m afraid so.”

“I’m afraid you leave me with no other choice…”

* * *

 

**Chapter 5.5**

**Akane**

“I’m telling you, it was crazy. All of a sudden everything went dark and the wind picked up like crazy. Trees were falling down everywhere I’d look and I was sure I’d get crushed by one when I saw this well and there was some bars like ladder going down in it and thanks to that well. It saved my life-”

Ever since we got back Kagari hasn’t stopped talking about his experience with that crazy weather. Apparently the sky got dark and the wind completely died down for a few minutes, not long afterwards it started raining followed by marble size hail and everything went crazy from there. From what Mr. Ginoza told us, he said that before he was forced to take cover he saw the clouds coming down into some sort of funnel.

Mr. Masaoka said that what we experienced out there was what you’d call a tornado; he says by the force and how it threw the paddy wagon in the air like that, it was probably a level F three at best. Apparently even with Japan’s high efficient weather detector, it still can’t fully predict when a tornado is formed. Mr. Masaoka says that Mr. Ginoza is very lucky that he wasn’t hurt and that he was lucky to be alive.

Kagari seems to be rather enjoying recounting his tale, come to think of it. He did say that he became an enforcer only two years ago and before that he was in isolation since he was five years old so all of this excitement was probably all new to him. Actually it was pretty new to me too, it was scary. When the latch door violently closed the way it did and how it was shaking and Mr. Masaoka covered me so I wouldn’t get hurt I knew right then that whatever was happening it was bad. I was so afraid that the latch would have been forced opened by the wind and Mr. Kougami would have been sucked out.

I didn’t see anything but I could hear the violent screams of the wind, the hail hitting on the latch and the sound of wood being torn and I know that was nothing. I can only imagine how Ms. Kunizuka, Kagari and Mr. Ginoza felt, it must have been so terrifying. Ms. Kunizuka said that from where she was, she had a solid stone wall to cover behind but that she was able to see the tornado a little until a tree fell over her breaking her vision. If it hadn’t been for that stone wall, she said that she would have been crushed under that tree.

The office door opening takes me out of my thoughts as Mr. Ginoza enters not bothering to say anything as he heads for his desk. He doesn’t look too happy…

“What did the Chief say?” Kougami asks breaking the silence but Mr. Ginoza doesn’t say anything prompting Kougami to get up from his seat. “So? What did she say?”

“I got suspended.” He answered after a few minutes of silence after he finished putting his things away that had lingered on his desk. I could sense a bit of bitterness in his tone, Mr. Ginoza got suspended I didn’t see that one coming especially since I can’t think of a reason why he’d even get suspended in the first place. He hasn’t done anything wrong.

“What the hell!? What for? How long?” Kougami asks not bothering to hide his own frustration in his voice as he slams his fist on Mr. Ginoza’s desk.

“Four weeks…” Ginoza replies after a few more minutes of silence as tension filled the atmosphere and I feel my stomach dropped.

“That’s a fucking month! The hell are we supposed to do with an inspector short?” Kougami fumed. This is a major setback and the thought of me being alone leading division one is nerve racking. I don’t feel ready for all of that responsibility all of a sudden.

“This is bullshit!” Kougami adds, not bothering to lower his voice at all.

I understand that he’s angry; no matter what even though Mr. Kougami used to be friends with Mr. Ginoza he can’t allow himself to get so angry. This is one of the reasons why his psycho-pass got cloudy and besides shouting isn’t something that Mr. Ginoza needs right now. By all means, it has to be embarrassing for him.

“No use shouting at the inspector Kou, that won’t change the status of the suspension.” Mr. Masaoka voices out as he walks up to Mr. Kougami as he gives signal for Mr. Kougami to follow him.

“You’re alright with this pops? Gino got suspended for absolutely no fucking reason.” Mr. Kougami further inquires as he follows Mr. Masaoka out of the office none the less as I catch a glimpse of Mr. Masaoka telling him that there was nothing they could do about it and then they were out of hearing range.

“Do I proceed in the current case?” I ask. It’s bad that I hope that this case has been given to another division. I don’t even know where to even go to find the answers to even come close in solving this case.

“Proceed like usual as if I’m here. Division one hasn’t been removed from that case.” I was afraid he’d say that and for the first time his expression soften or maybe it’s just that he doesn’t have his glasses on but his expression just feels gentle all of a sudden. “Don’t act if you’re not sure, you’ll be fine.” He adds before making his way out of the office.

I let myself drop into my chair, this can’t get any worst can it and then it does right after I get a notification from the result of the missing girl case. She’s dead and her body has been damaged so we can’t exactly identify the cause of her death.

Mr. Ginoza got suspended because of this particular case I’m sure of it and what did we get out of it? Nothing, this isn’t fair but I have no choice I have to pull through. This is my chance to prove myself to Mr. Ginoza, I can’t fail.


End file.
